Only in Dreams (Road Trip Romance Book 9)

by A. K. Evans

  To say that everyone was buzzing with excitement about what was ahead for tonight would have been an understatement. And as patrons started to file in, that feeling only grew substantially.

  When Cash, the rest of the band, and the people who toured with them arrived, Cal took charge and got them set up with everything they needed.

  With everything else taken care of, I sat back on one of the stools, took it all in, and smiled. I was so happy for Cal. This was huge, and he deserved all of the success that came from it.

  Though I tried looking for her, Demi was MIA. I didn’t have to think too long and hard about who might have been with her. I was certain Cash had found her and was letting his persistence to have a shot with her be known. In any other case, I might have worked a little harder to locate her and make sure she was okay, but Demi was a tough cookie. I knew she’d be alright. And deep down, I just had a good feeling about Cash. I didn’t think he had it in him to ever do something that would genuinely bring her harm or discomfort.

  The next thing I knew, Cal was walking toward me with a massive grin on his face.

  “What’s that all about?” I asked him as he approached.

  “Just wait.”

  “For what?” I pressed.

  He pressed a kiss to my cheek, moved off to the side of my stool, and stood there before he answered, “You’ll see.”

  When I thought I would burst with anticipation, it finally happened. The band came out, and my jaw nearly fell to the ground as everyone in the bar cheered for them.

  Cal and I were standing toward the back of the crowd, but we still had a fantastic view. And right there in front of me, Cash was standing at a microphone wearing one of my T-shirts. Not only that but Holland, the only female in the group, was wearing one as well.

  My eyes bugged out, and my neck snapped in the opposite direction so I could look back at Cal.

  “How did…” I trailed off, unable to find the words.

  “Demi facilitated that,” he said. “I happened to walk in when they already had them on.”

  My stunned eyes landed on the stage again, and a feeling of warmth moved through me. Those were my shirts.

  My shirts on members of the biggest industrial rock band in the world.

  Emotions clogged my throat, and the man standing beside me instantly sensed it. As My Violent Heart took hold of the room and captivated them with the first song of their set, Cal slipped his arm around my back and curled me into his chest.

  I stayed there like that with him as we watched and let the good vibes flow through us. The mood in the bar was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Without a doubt, I knew this very event was going to put Granite on the map. More than it already was.

  Following a rather long set, Cash said, “We’re going to take ten, but we’ll be back for a few more songs.”

  The crowd cheered as I leaned into Cal’s chest.

  “I’m so happy for you,” I told him.

  “I’m so happy for you, too.”

  Cal smiled at me before he touched his mouth to mine. It didn’t take long for him to deepen the kiss.

  “I fucking knew it!”

  At the harsh declaration from a familiar voice, Cal and I separated and looked to the side. Standing right in front of us was Mitch.

  He came here.

  He honestly drove his ass all the way here even after I told him there was no chance for us.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked him, noting Cal’s grip on me growing tighter.

  “Well, I wanted to talk to you in person, so I went to your place,” he started. “When you weren’t there, I called the hotel. They said you were off tonight. I figured this would be the place to find you. It seems I was right.”

  “You should leave,” I said, thinking it was crazy that he just showed up in Finch tonight.

  Demi, who I hadn’t seen since before My Violent Heart arrived, walked up.

  Mitch’s eyes shifted between Cal and me, assessing us.

  “I’ve got to know,” he started, his eyes settling on Cal. “Did you at least wait until I was out of the picture before you started fucking my girl, or was she spreading her legs for the both of us at the same time?”

  I gasped.

  In a flash, Cal’s arm was no longer wrapped around me. Before I could even react, his fist connected with Mitch’s jaw. Mitch stumbled backward, bringing his hand up to his face. As Cal stepped forward, closing the distance between Mitch and himself, I started to move in that direction, too. I didn’t want Cal getting into any trouble for me.

  But before I could take even half a step, an arm clamped around my waist.

  “Let him handle this,” Cash’s voice sounded in my ear.

  Cash was here? When did he get here? I thought he’d be off somewhere taking a break with the rest of the band.

  I might have appreciated the distraction in any other situation, but this wasn’t any ordinary situation. My eyes were riveted to Cal and the scene before me.

  My man got both hands around the collar of Mitch’s shirt.

  “She’s not your girl anymore, dickface,” Cal seethed. “You had her, and you lost her. Now you’re realizing the colossal mistake you made because there’s nobody like Sam. Nobody. Then again, you never appreciated her for everything that she is. So, I’m sorry, man. You need to go. You should have put the effort in while you had her. You’re too late now. She’s with me, and I’ll never let her go.”

  “Fuck you,” Mitch spat before turning his attention to me while struggling against Cal’s hold. “Sam, we need to talk.”

  “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Is this what you want?” he asked, a look of disgust on his face. “Some guy that owns a bar that’ll never be able to take care of you?”

  “Cal takes care of me better than you ever did,” I declared. “He took better care of me than you did when I was with you. He’s always taken care of me in all the ways that matter.”

  That’s when Demi chimed in and pointed out, “Money isn’t always the way you take care of people, asshole. Sam’s the happiest she’s ever been in her life now that she’s with Cal. Even if things didn’t work out with them, you wouldn’t stand a chance with her again. She knows what it’s like to be loved by a real man.”

  A sarcastic expression washed over him as he returned his gaze to mine. “Love? He loves you so much, and yet, he’s okay with you continuing to work your shitty job.”

  “Sam’s actually leaving her job,” Demi declared.

  My body went ramrod straight. Why would she say something like that? I mean, it wasn’t like I cared that she was making stuff up to say to Mitch, but I wasn’t in a position to leave my job.

  That’s when the hold Cash had around my waist loosened, and he stepped out from behind me.

  “I told Demi we want you to design a bunch of gear for the band for us to sell at our shows on tour,” he informed me. My eyes widened as my lips parted in shock.

  What?

  He couldn’t be serious.

  Looking down at the T-shirt he was wearing—my T-shirt—he assessed it. Then he brought his attention back to my face and said, “This shirt kicks ass.”

  I wanted to cry.

  But I couldn’t.

  Instead, I looked at Mitch and said, “My shirts kick ass, and if you don’t leave now, I’m going to have one of the members of My Violent Heart’s security team come here and kick yours.”

  Cal tightened his grip on Mitch’s collar and seethed, “Don’t ever come back here again. Don’t ever contact Sam again. If you do, you won’t like what happens.”

  “Did you just threaten me?”

  “Yep.”

  Mitch reached up to Cal’s hands and struggled to yank them away. Then he looked at me one last time and said, “I hope you’re happy.”

  The tone of his voice indicated that he did not mean it at all. I did not care if I had his blessing. It was just as Demi said.

  I was with Cal, a
nd I was the happiest I’d ever been.

  “I am.”

  With that, Mitch turned around and walked toward the exit. I didn’t see him walk out because my eyes went to Cal. He was looking at me, waiting for me to say something.

  “Question,” I declared.

  Warmth filled his face. “Shoot.”

  “Do you know how sexy you are when you’re defending my honor?” I asked.

  Cal grinned and reached for me. He pulled me into his arms and held me tight.

  “Wildest dreams,” he said softly in my ear.

  I tipped my head back, smiled at him, and returned, “Wildest dreams.”

  A moment later, Cash said, “I hate to interrupt, but we’re going to head back on stage now.”

  “Thanks for holding her back,” Cal said.

  “No problem,” he replied. Then he shifted his attention to me and stated, “I was serious about what I said before. Everyone in the band is down for it. Think about it, and let me know what you want to do.”

  Nodding, I rasped, “There’s nothing to think about. This is a dream come true, so I’m down for it, too.”

  “Awesome. We’ll work out the details afterward.”

  I nodded my agreement.

  Cash turned and looked at Demi for a moment before he moved toward the stage. My eyes went to her. She was watching Cash walk away. When she looked back at me, she rid herself of the look of longing and beamed at me.

  “My two best friends having the biggest night of their lives,” she declared. “This is fucking awesome.”

  Cal and I looked at each other. We both smiled and moved toward Demi. Then the three of us sat back and enjoyed the rest of the show.

  Epilogue

  Calvin

  Two months later

  Finally.

  It was finally here.

  Sam’s birthday.

  For the first time since I’d met her and fallen in love with her, I was going to be able to spend her birthday with her as something more than just a friend.

  It was the best feeling in the world.

  While I had a plan for part of the festivities for her birthday—something I had been planning and preparing for over the last few weeks so she wouldn’t know it was coming—I still asked her if she had anything special she wanted to do.

  “I want to go to Granite,” she declared when I posed the question to her three weeks ago.

  “Really?” I asked.

  Nodding, she confirmed, “It’s kind of become my birthday celebration spot, and it’s my favorite place in the world considering it’s where I met you. I can’t imagine not celebrating there.”

  When she put it that way, I knew I had no choice in the matter. If Granite was her favorite place in the world, I was going to give her what she wanted and take her there. But I had wanted to spoil her just a little bit, too.

  So, I asked, “Would it be okay if I plan a few things for earlier in the day and take you out for a special dinner before we go to Granite? You know I love nothing more than seeing you all dolled up in one of your dresses.”

  Beaming at me, she answered, “I can’t wait to see what you come up with, and I’ll do my best to pick out a killer dress.”

  With those words, she set my plan in motion. For weeks, I’d been doing something with Sam that I hadn’t ever been the one to initiate before with her. I didn’t want her being caught off guard today and have her guessing the surprise. That meant I did what I had to do.

  Obviously, I’d taken the day off of work today. I was more than confident in my staff’s capabilities to keep things running smoothly without me there. Sam took off from work, too, but she didn’t have to call in to do it.

  A week after My Violent Heart performed live at Granite, Sam’s T-shirt business exploded. Apparently, someone had taken a small video clip from the performance and posted it online. It went viral. The next thing we knew, orders were pouring in for Sam’s shirts.

  With the offer Cash made to her the night of the performance to come up with a few designs for the band, Sam had already been considering how much longer she’d have to work as an event sales director. But once she started getting thousands of orders for her shirts, she gave her notice and left that job.

  I was so proud of her, and I loved seeing the look on her face every morning when she’d look to see how many shirts she sold the day before. She’d finally done it, just like I always knew she would.

  When it came to Granite, things were going very well. My Violent Heart’s performance had put us on the map. We’d been doing well before, but now we had the leverage when attempting to book new bands. In fact, many were reaching out to us because they wanted to play there, too.

  It was everything I could have hoped for when I opened the bar, and I was beyond grateful for the success.

  Even with all the wonderful and positive things that had happened for both Sam and me over the last couple of months, the best of all was simply us being together. If I lost my bar tomorrow, I’d be devastated. But I knew I’d be okay as long as I had Sam.

  I truly believed she felt the same.

  And since this year had seemed to be all about the two of us taking everything in our lives to the next level, I thought today was the day to do that in our relationship.

  I was going to ask Sam to marry me.

  We might have only been officially together for a couple of months, but I didn’t care. I’d loved her for years, and I knew that was never going to change.

  We’d spent the better part of the morning being intimate with one another and had come out for a picnic lunch this afternoon. Part of me had considered waiting until we were at Granite tonight to do it, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, I wanted us to have some quiet time to ourselves to celebrate.

  “This was really something special, Cal,” Sam said. “I never would have guessed you’d plan a picnic lunch. The food was delicious, and the company was fantastic.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed this, babe.”

  I loved seeing the satisfied and content look on her face. This woman had no idea what she did to me.

  “It was perfect,” she added. “It’ll be the nice balance to what we’ll have tonight at Granite.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  I couldn’t give her much additional conversation because I was so focused on what I was about to do.

  Finally, I worked up the courage and just did it.

  “Question,” I stated.

  Sam smiled at me. This is what I’d been doing with her more frequently over the last few weeks. Sam had always been the one to pose questions to me, but since I knew I wanted to do this, I decided I needed to start early.

  “Shoot,” she replied, using the same response I always gave her.

  Grinning at her, I said, “Yes or no?”

  Sam’s brows pulled together. “Yes or no?” she repeated. “Yes or no what?”

  I shrugged and said, “You have to decide. Is it yes or no?”

  For several long moments, Sam considered her answer. I was sure she had a million thoughts running through her mind as she tried to figure out where this was going. Eventually, she tipped her head to the side and responded, “Yes.”

  “Yes? Are you sure?”

  Confusion washed over her, and she gave me a questioning look. “I think so,” she murmured. “No. I’m confident. My answer is yes because, with you, it’ll always be yes.”

  Perfect response.

  Smiling at her, I said, “I’ve got one more question then.”

  “What is it?”

  I reached into the bag I’d brought with us that had all of the things we needed for our picnic. Pulling out the ring box, I kept my eyes on her as I opened it up and held it out to her.

  “Will you marry me?”

  Her expression turned shocked. “Are you serious?”

  I nodded.

  “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  With that, I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.
The minute it sat at the base of her finger, Sam tackled me. I fell to my back, laughing, feeling nothing but overwhelming joy that this woman was finally officially all mine forever.

  “I love you,” I told her.

  Sam’s body was on top of mine. She lifted her face out of my neck and looked down at me. “I can’t believe you,” she rasped. “This is the best birthday ever.”

  “This is the best life ever,” I corrected her.

  “I love you so much, Cal.”

  Sam didn’t give me a chance to respond before she lowered her mouth to mine and kissed me. I quickly took over and rolled her to her back. We kissed for a long time until I reluctantly pulled my mouth from hers.

  Looking down at her beautiful face, I said, “You’ve made me so happy, Sam. From the moment I met you, I had a feeling you were going to be somebody special in my life. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was right. It might have taken us a while to get here, but what we’ve been through makes me appreciate what we have that much more.”

  “I’m so glad I didn’t walk out of that bar the day I met you,” she whispered. “I’m even happier that I continued to come back. You’re the best man I’ve ever known, and your love for me has been so pure. Thank you for giving me that. You’ve honestly made all my dreams come true.”

  Lowering my mouth to hers again, I brushed my lips against hers. “And I’ll never stop. No matter what you dream, I’ll do what I can to make it come true,” I promised before I captured her mouth in another kiss.

  We stayed like that for a long time on the picnic blanket, kissing and holding one another. We laughed. We talked. We touched.

  Eventually, we got up and went back to her place so we could get ready for dinner and our night out at Granite.

  And when she walked out into the living room wearing a killer dress, I said, “Tomorrow morning, we start looking for a home that’s going to be ours.”

  “Two surprises in one day, Cal. You better slow down.”

  “Not a chance, Sam. Not when you walk out looking like that.”

  She pressed her body against mine and said, “Wildest dreams, baby.”

  Yeah, it was the truth. She was way better than my wildest dreams.